A few words about the loss to the Sacramento Kings: Denver played like a team coming off a very long break. The break seemed to exacerbate the weaknesses this team has, while diminishing the things they had done in the games previous to overcome them. The other thing is that if this loss had happened against literally any other team in the association, the level of angst would have been about a billion levels lower. The Nuggets lost to a team ahead of them in the standings, that has more functional talent, on their home court, and they lost by 6 points. However, because of the narrative surrounding the Kings, because we’ve been told by everyone – the national media, the local Sacramento media, Kings fans, NurktheSmirk, TIDDY – that they are a fieryest of hot fire dumpster fires that ever fired, that just by showing up on the court against the dysfunctional Kings, any team is guaranteed to walk away with an easy victory. This is not the case. The Nuggets had a bad game. You get over it and move on.
the good news about the NBA is that, even when you play a stinker of a game like the Nuggets did, you get chance to wash away that stench in a very short period of time. Denver has that chance as the host the Boston Celtics in an afternoon affair. In their last time facing this team, Boston took advantage of the Nuggets tendency to treat the ball as if it were manufactured out of soapstone coated with teflon and dipped bacon grease. Boston forces a lot of turnovers. They thrive when the game is chaotic and they’re able to scramble the game. For Denver to emerge victorious, they will need to take care of the damn ball.
